Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Born Without Bones - Say Hello

So I guess this album has technically been out since November...but the vinyl was just released on Animal Style Records today, and that's the part that really matters. What else matters, is that is album is fucking awesome. Born Without Bones accomplished something pretty fucking serious with this record, and I'd say it's the fact that they released an original piece of art...which is something that is such a rarity in the scene that it'd kill to let it go unnoticed. I'm not saying this is one of those bands where you can't tell who their influences are...it's more like it's one of those bands where you can spot a million different influences and not feel completely secure with who you pinpoint them as sounding like. You're fucked if you try to do that...there's too much variety song to song.

Seriously, the opening track/title track sounds like this huge deal when you hear it, and it has these like folky vocal melodies followed by this choral blast of "SAAAAYYYHELLLLOOOOOO-OOO-OOO" with the right amount of "oh-woah-oh" to it and everything. Then this song is followed by what sounds like highly evolved skate punk, styled more like Fireworks or All Time Low (without the suck)...for a while. Then there's a lot more going on behind the scenes for this one. With how amazing the drums sound in these songs, it's pretty easy to seem how they can flawlessly switch moods mid-song and draw from other influences to bring out a bigger, more involved sound. All of this work is topped by infectious vocal lines. Our heads are fucked. These songs will be stuck up there, reverberating off the walls of our probably-empty skulls for days on end. We're fucked.

The third song "Falling Asleep" is basically a powerhouse of sound and...power. This song actually sounds a lot like Foo Fighters in the instrumentals, but with Scott Ayotte's awesome voice making everything work together as well as it possibly can. "I WON'T SAY WHAT I WANT BECAUSE I WON'T WHAT YOU GOT!" Hearing that part screamed with more emotion than a acne-ridden teen going stag to prom definitely makes this record worth how much it costs...which is free (name your price) if you just want the songs from bandcamp or only 10 fucking bucks for a black, blue, or yellow vinyl from Animal Style Records. This is a better deal than grocery store brand soda. Missing out on it simply makes you a tool. Unless you just aren't digging these songs. Then I just honestly have no idea what's wrong with you, but hey, that's your deal.

It's to the point in the review where I generally say something along the lines of, "well, I could just gush over the rest of the songs for you, or I could give you a list of the best ones on the album." Or sometimes I say something like, "I honestly can't give you a best-of list, because the whole album is good." Both of these statements are somewhat true. If I were to give you a straight up list of the best songs on the album, it may just be all of the songs. But, if I'm going to be a bro for you bros, I'll pinpoint a few that you may like more than the rest.

Consider This

Sunday

Out of Step

Privileges

There are a few songs on this album that are really long, and have more of an operatic feel to them...only in the sense that it feels like a story is being told musically. My favorite of these is probably "Sound of a Crowded Room". Seriously, that song is fucking rad. You might call me weird for it. But you're the weird one. By the way, buy this record.